Arizona’s 2013-14 women’s basketball squad met with the media on Thursday to preview the upcoming season and reflect on preseason training. Below are quotes from Coach Butts and select players.

Head Coach Niya Butts

“For us, we are going to have to use our quickness and athleticism. That is probably our biggest thing right now. If we can understand exactly when and where we need to use that and how we can use it to our advantage, we’re going to be a tough team to reckon with, especially as the season goes along.”

“I think when you have a good core coming back, we feel really good. Experience is the best teacher. The more experience you can get, the better off you are going to be. We are certainly going to lean on that an awful lot; the young folks are going to have to grow up fast. We feel like everybody that’s on our roster has the ability to help and contribute early and we look forward to them being able to do that.”

Senior guard Kama Griffitts

On replacing Davellyn White:

“With all the seniors on the team, we all have that experience. We are willing to take on the role that Davellyn had last year. It is important for the seniors and the returners to have Candice [Warthen] back this year.”

On the team’s goals this year on the court:

“As a team, I would like to finish in the top four in the Pac-12, or have a winning season.”

On what aspect of her game that she worked on:

“A lot of ball handling and defense.”

On team chemistry:

“We’ve been working really well together, there are a lot of freshmen. It seems like they’ve been here forever. The team chemistry is great. “

Sophomore guard Keyahndra Cannon:

On what the team has been working on the most:

“We’ve been working on defense and that is going to fuel our fire. Defense is something that we’ve been working on a lot.”

On what she’s been working on individually:

“Just being aggressive on offense and just disciplining myself on the court all the time.”

Junior guard Candice Warthen

On what the team has been working on the most:

“Defense, definitely. We work on defense every day, all day and rebounding.”

On the team’s approach:

“Last year, we struggled towards the end of games. We could never finish. This year, we just have to close and play hard the entire game.”

Senior guard Carissa Crutchfield

“As a team, we’re building together. I try to step up and set an example as a leader for the team.”

On replacing Davellyn Whyte:

“The four seniors that are on the team, we need to step up. Davellyn (Whyte) was a great player, but we just need to do our part and lead all the younger players.”

On the newcomers:

“They’re great. They add a lot more competitiveness. This year we’re much more competitive. I feel like, this year, the newcomers can come in and bring a lot to the table.”

Freshman forward LaBrittney Jones

“Our strengths are playing together as a team, our athleticism, quickness and our energy together.”

On the team coming together:

“We’ve been doing a lot of stuff together and building chemistry together, so it’s helping us on and off the court.”

On the progress in practice:

“As a team I think we’re doing well. We’ve been working really hard on the defensive end; that’s been our biggest focus so far. I think we’re going to really bring that to the game and it’s going to be a different team from last season.”

On what the fans can expect:

“This season we’re going to bring a lot of energy and passion to the game.”